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I will be looking out for more from this author.  This is quite scary and opens up a multitude of questions.

A baby is found murdered in a home where all the occupants are deaf.  The fact that nobody could have heard an intruder makes the murder seem all the more sinister and unnerving.  The Police need an interpreter for the interviews and call Paige Norwood.

The deaf community is close knit and protective but it soon becomes apparent that some people are hiding facts to protect themselves or maybe others.  Paige is part of this community and this makes her job difficult and duplicitous. The relationships are complex and the families do not necessarily like each other.  All this adds to the intrigue.

I found myself learning about a community which I knew very little about as well as becoming engrossed in the complexity and hatred which the murder brought to such a small group of people.

Thank you to NetGalley, Avon Books and Nell Pattison for my ARC in return for my honest review.

A great read, highly recommended.

 

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I have read all of the Roy Grace series by Peter James and found them enthralling but this is my first read of anything else he has written including ‘The House On Cold Hill’, which is the precursor to this, ‘The Secret of Cold Hill.’

The story took me by storm.  After the first chapter I was hooked, totally and completely and this novel is so far outside of my usual read that it is quite a surprise how much I enjoyed it.

Putting beliefs aside this is a creepy, scary, nail biter surrounding Emily and Jason who have just moved into a new house on a brand new housing estate which is practically empty apart from one couple, the Penze-Weedels, who as the name suggests, are a little off-beat.

The characters are interesting and some quite eccentric with a fast-paced plot, leading the reader in several different directions and beliefs.  At times I laughed out loud, only to be taken aback within the next few sentences with what was happening.

This is a full on ghost story with twists and turns and so many clever nuances, which lead through to a brilliant conclusion.

Thanks to NetGalley, Pan Macmillan and Peter James for my ARC in return for my honest review.

All in all and utterly brilliant read.  Highly recommended.

 

 

 

 

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This is Lesley Kara’s second novel and I read the first one, ‘The Rumour’, which was brilliant.  ‘Who Did You Tell’ is just as good, if not better.  A thoroughly enjoyable read with so many twists and turns so I couldn’t put it down.

Astrid is a recovering alcoholic who has returned to her hometown to live with her mother and she knows she is on her last chance with her so is attending AA meetings in this small town.  It is the type of place where everyone knows everyone else’s business.

It is clear that Astrid has a dark past which she is not proud of although her memory is sketchy as most of the time she was drunk.  It is apparent that she lost a boyfriend at some stage although, initially, the circumstances are vague.  Her character is excellently portrayed as she stumbles to keep away from drinking.

However, it appears as if somebody in the town knows her past better than she does and is following her, as she smells the aftershave her former boyfriend used to wear. She starts to find notes, which begin to scare her.

This is a difficult subject handled with excellent skill, leaving the reader in no doubt that the addiction can ruin lives and the lives of those around them.

Thank you to NetGalley, Random House UK, Transworld Publishers, Bantam press and Lesley Kara for my ARC in return for my honest review.

Brilliant read and highly recommended.

 

 

 

 

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This was a fantastic read by an author who I have read before, but I read his first novel, Free To Trade, when I was working in the City and for some reason have missed out on all of the ones in between. I intend to rectify this over the coming months.

The story is told from two timelines.  1983, on a US submarine in the middle of the cold war and what happens when the captain of the vessel receives instructions to fire on three destinations; and 2019, where the family of one of those on board that submarine, Bill Guth, is celebrating Thanksgiving with his family and friends.

A journalist has arrived prior to the celebration to ask questions about the incident aboard the submarine and it is clear that he is not given all of the information.  However, he is found dead later that night after attending the Thanksgiving meal and a web of lies, mysteries and family secrets begin to emerge.

There was nothing I didn’t like about this novel and found the characters and their development clever going hand in hand with the plot as it curved through much misleading information from those characters.

Thank you to NetGalley, Atlantic Books, Corvus and Michael Ridpath for my ARC in return for my honest review.

Excellent Read.  Highly recommended.

 

 

 

 

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This is an addictive read.  It centres on a block of flats in Central London, in Zone One, where people exist together but rarely make friends with their neighbours and others within the same building, leaving them to live their own lives.  It is not the case here.

Harriet and Lexie live next door to each other and the narrative is told by each of them in turn as the story progresses.   Harriet is a composer of music for musicals and, on the surface, appears to be successful. Lexie lives with her husband who appears successful in his job and Lexie works from home as a freelance copywriter, which is something she chose to do.

They can hear certain things through the wall between them and Lexie and Harriet become obsessed with each other, always looking up information on the Internet and trying to find out as much as they can about where the other is going and what is happening. They both feel the other has a perfect life but this is definitely not the case.

From one side obsession leads to stalking which is nothing new to this person.  There is so much more to the book than this and many topics are dealt with in an interesting and caring manner.  I do not want to give anything away.

Thank you to NetGalley, Avon Books UK and Caroline Corcoran for my ARC in return for my honest review.

Highly addictive read and totally recommended.